Al Parker
This article is about the porn star. For the artist and illustrator, see Al Parker (artist). , Al Parker, and Dick Fisk]] Al Parker, real name Andrew R. Okun, (June 25, 1952 - August 17, 1992) was a gay American pornographic actor (porn star), producer, and director. He was born in Natick, MA, and died in San Francisco, CA, of complications from AIDS. Aside from his films, Parker is best known in gay culture as one of the icons of the Castro Street Clone era, a time when gay men held the well-groomed, lean, mustached physique popular in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood as an ideal. Early career For a while after arriving in California, Parker was employed by Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion West as a butler. Parker's career in gay film started when he was "discovered" by Rip Colt, founder of Colt Studios. Parker actually began his film making career when he was signed by a company called Brentwood Studios to make the 12-15 minute loop films. These were easy to make films that were shot on single 8 mm film reels. Each reel contained one sex scene start to finish. They could be "glued together" randomly or even with some kind of a story line. The film loops were very successful. The sex loops were also used as previews for hustlers. Surge Studios Parker however, wanted to be his own boss so he and his boyfriend started Surge Studios where he was a producer, director and actor. Surge Studios started making larger budget "theme" features and not just the "film loops." Many of the films were shot out of Parker and Cole's home in Hermosa Beach, California. Some of the hallmarks of Surge Studio films included well lit scenes, complex camera angles and slow motion "money shots" at the point of climax. 1984 would be Surge Studio's busiest and most profitable year with six films in production with one of them either starring in, producing or directing the effort. Surge Studios was also a very "business conscious" kind of an enterprise. They did things like having the actors use condoms in their films and also "Penis Pumps." Parker, his father, and some friends had been making Penis Pumps and other gadgets for years under two companies, which are named the Boston Pump Works and the San Francisco Pump Works. According to the book Clone: The Life and Legacy of Al Parker, Gay Superstar by Roger Edmonson these same gadgets and Penis Pumps were then advertised in the Surge Studio films. The pumps were said to have made more money for Andrew R. Parker than either his videos or even his photos, according to Edmonson. Personal life Parker and Cole had a very open relationship in which they frequently participated in unsafe sex with multiple partners. When Cole died of AIDS in 1986, Parker was devastated. Following Cole's death Parker continued in the Adult film business. Parker also began a relationship with Canadian porn star Justin Cade; however, the relationship soon failed because Cade (who practiced safe-sex exclusively in his personal life and adult film career) felt that Parker's continued behaviour of having multiple sex partners and participating in unsafe practices was self destructive. When told he would have to choose between his carnal desires and a relationship with Cade, the relationship ended. Still, the two remained good friends. Parker is the subject of Roger Edmonson's biography Clone: The Life and Legacy of Al Parker Gay Superstar, in which Edmonson traces Parker's penchant for risky sex back to Parker's supposed rape by an "unnamed German man," when Parker was 15 at knife point in the town of Natick, Massachusetts. Famous for his large penis, Parker was almost exclusively a top on film. One of his stunts was inserting not only his penis, but his testicles as well, in the partner's anus. Later in life he had his foreskin surgically restored. Parker was said to have been cremated and his ashes scattered to the sea at the nude section of San Gregorio Beach on Route 1 in California. Incomplete Videography * Overload (1992) * The Best of Colt Films: Part 10 (1991) * Better Than Ever (1989) * Best of Brentwood 1 (1987) * Turbo Charge (1987) * The Best of Colt: Part 4 (1986) * Daddies Plaything (1985) * Oversize Load (1985) * Strange Places Strange Things (1985) * High Tech (1984) * Therapy (1984) * Century Mining (1984) * Hard Disk Drive (1984) *Outrage (1984):aka Christopher Rage's Outrage (USA) * Headtrips (1984) * One in a Billion (1984) * Rangers (1984) * Weekend Lockup (1983) * Dangerous (1983) * A Few Good Men (1983) * Games (1983) * The Other Side of Aspen (1983) * Turned On (1982) * Flashbacks (1981):aka Al Parker's Flashbacks (USA:complete title) * Wanted (1980) * Inches (1979) * Best of Buckshot (Compilations) Chute, Timberwolves * Heavy Equipment (1977) (This movie was shot in 3-D) See also External links * *Al Parker's entry in the Outcyclopedia *Review of a Clone: The Life and Legacy of Al Parker Category:1952 births Category:1992 deaths Category:AIDS-related deaths Category:American gay porn directors fr:Al Parker